


the law of love i’m bound to

by earthbendz (adroite)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ATLA Big Bang, ATLA Big Bang 2020, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ba Sing Se, Ba Sing Se University, F/M, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Road Trips, and in college, and kind of oblivious, it's really a recipe for disaster, the mailee is a background relationship i'm sorry, they're both bisexual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27310450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adroite/pseuds/earthbendz
Summary: Five times Suki was maybe flirting with Sokka and one time she definitely was.Or, as one of my betas put it, “dumb college bisexuals and suki.”
Relationships: Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47
Collections: ATLA Big Bang 2020





	the law of love i’m bound to

**Author's Note:**

> this... is a labor of love. thank you so much to my phenomenal betas, [@beepboopbitch](https://beepboopbitch.tumblr.com/), [@rideboldlyride](https://rideboldlyride.tumblr.com/) and [@randomgirlyoudontknow](https://randomgirlyoudontknow.tumblr.com/), as well as the artists working with me, [@wingsdingsandpurplethings](https://wingsdingsandpurplethings.tumblr.com/) and [@pikachica](https://pikachica.tumblr.com/).
> 
> head over to my tumblr, [@earthbendz](https://earthbendz.tumblr.com/), if you want to see the art that's been made for this fic!

Buildings rose up over the neat stone streets of the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se, but one cluster, though not much taller than the houses and shops that surrounded it, seemed to tower above the rest. Sokka had been to Ba Sing Se University plenty of times throughout his life, but mostly for school field trips—this was his first time here as an enrolled student.

A few months ago, he had toured the university with Katara, Aang, and his dad tagging along. He had just been accepted to study there, and he got to see the buildings where he’d have class, the library and common areas, and the dorms—which he wouldn’t be living in. He’d argued with Hakoda over that for a short while. He said he’d pay for housing himself, that it wouldn’t be as expensive since he had a full ride. He wanted to get the full university experience by living on campus, but he knew it was best for him to live at home to save money—and to continue shouldering a third of the chores. Besides, the commute was only half an hour.

He had just finished that very commute and was now heading towards his first class, Physics 1. He stared at his schedule on his phone as he walked, trying to study the times and the building names so that he wouldn’t look so obviously like a freshman again when he showed up for class tomorrow. He had almost memorized the times for his Tuesday classes when he slammed full force into someone or something that was standing right in the middle of the path.

It took all his strength not to topple over, but Sokka managed to regain his balance and looked up, almost offended, at the person he’d just run into. He was shocked to see a girl, slightly taller than him, looking at him with an equally offended expression. Sokka waited for her to apologize for standing in his way, but she seemed to be waiting for him to do the same. They stared at each other, frozen in a steely impasse for almost two full minutes. The slightly enraged silence was only broken by someone calling the girl’s name.

“Suki!” The girl’s head whipped around to look at whoever had called out to her, and Sokka couldn’t help but glance over too. A much shorter girl with a long braid and a bright pink outfit waved at them both as she bounded across the courtyard to meet them. “Who’s your new friend?” said the girl, gesturing to Sokka.

Finally, Suki spoke. “Oh, you mean the kid who just ran into me because he was staring at his phone while he walked through the courtyard?” She glanced at him with a sarcastic smile. “Introduce yourself.”

Sokka stood up a little bit straighter, eyes narrowed. “It’s Sokka, thanks,” he said. “And I believe you mean, the guy who just ran into you because you were standing right in the middle of the courtyard, where anyone might be walking, without paying attention!”

“Right,” Suki laughed. It dripped with sarcasm at first, but it turned into a genuine laugh partway through, and then she smiled a real smile at Sokka. He realized then that she was actually kind of pretty. “I’m Suki. Nice to meet you, Sokka. I forgive you for running into me.” She offered a hand for him to shake.

He still didn’t think it was his fault, but he took the handshake anyway, smiling back at her. Though he had a few friends from grade school going here, he didn’t really know anyone else, and it would probably be helpful to have a friend who didn’t know him as the guy who “ruined” the eighth grade science fair with his volcano experiment.

The other girl was named Ty Lee, and she was certainly more eager to get to know Sokka than Suki had been. Either way, he walked to class with the two of them, learning along the way that Suki was studying Linguistics and did martial arts in her free time, while Ty Lee was majoring in Elementary Education and did gymnastics. “What about you, Sokka?” Ty Lee asked as they stopped outside the Education building. “What are you studying?”

In all honesty, Sokka had been waiting for this question. “Physics and Fine Arts,” he said, grinning proudly. “And, uh, I guess I play soccer. Or, I did in high school.”

“Bending or non-bending team?” Suki said, smiling and raising an eyebrow slightly.

Sokka glared. “Non-bending, if you must know. But my sister is the best waterbender—”

“Same,” Suki said, cutting him off. He looked at her skeptically. “I played volleyball in high school, non-bending team. Those earthbender girls would have killed me.” They stared at each other for a moment before they both broke into a smile.

“Well, I have to get to class,” Ty Lee interjected. “See you two later!” She waved at them both and headed into the Education building, leaving Suki and Sokka alone. They looked at each other again, this time a little more awkwardly.

“I guess since Ty Lee likes you, I might as well add you to the groupchat,” Suki said, shrugging and pulling out her phone. “What’s your number?” Sokka’s brain blanked for a moment before he realized what she was asking and recited his phone number. He pulled out his phone as well so he could save her contact. “What dorm are you in? Maybe we’ll see each other around.”

“I live off campus,” he said sheepishly. “At home.”

“That’s cool,” Suki said. “I’d live at home too if it wasn’t on an island a thousand miles away.”

“Oh,” Sokka said. “That sucks. Sorry.”

Suki shrugged. “The university offered me a full ride, so it’s not too painful. Plus, I get to meet cool new people like Ty Lee. And you, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Gotta get to class, bye Sokka!” she said quickly, grinning and turning to walk away. He tried to call after her, but she broke into a run, shaking with laughter as she headed for the Math building. Sokka shook his head and set off to find the science building. A few minutes later, his phone buzzed and he looked down to see a new notification. He’d been added to a small groupchat on iMessage, and there was a new text from Suki.

_hey gals the dude i just added is sokka. he ran into me in the courtyard (his fault not mine) but he’s actually kind of cool. don’t bully him too hard._

A few minutes later, a text came in from Ty Lee.

 _hi sokka!!!_ (Followed by about a million heart emojis).

For some reason, Sokka was blushing. Not at Ty Lee’s emojis—which were flattering, of course, but he was used to avalanches of heart emojis since Aang had gotten his first phone last year—but by the fact he’d been added to the group at all. He barely knew these girls, and his first interaction with one of them had almost turned into a full-on brawl in the campus courtyard, but they accepted him anyway.

Maybe this college thing would go better than he’d expected after all.

… 

**8 months later**

Somehow, Suki and Sokka had managed to schedule a class together the second semester of their freshman year. Somehow, they’d managed to sit together all semester, despite the lecture hall being packed, and somehow, they’d both managed to forget about the midterm they had tomorrow.

“What kind of class has two midterms?” Sokka said for the third time that evening, switching between chugging his iced coffee and typing up a study guide from the notes he’d taken the past few weeks. “It’s called _mid_ term. Middle of term. There is only one midpoint in the semester. So why the hell do we have two midterms?”

“You’re making a lovely point, Sokka, but I’m kind of trying to focus on the structure and history of the Earth Kingdom’s monarchies, so—”

“I’ll shut up.”

Unlike Sokka, who was buzzing with energy from his fourth caffeinated drink and frantically trying to cram as much information into his head as possible, Suki was relaxed. She sat across the table from him in the lounge, wrapped in a blanket and sipping black tea as she reread all the textbook chapters they’d been assigned over the semester and went through, highlighting certain words and definitions. Sokka couldn’t wrap his head around how she could possibly be so calm—they had a midterm in eight hours (eight hours!) that neither of them had started studying for until the previous evening. Admittedly, though, her calmness balanced out his manic energy, and he felt himself coming down a bit as he made it to the thirteenth page of his digital study guide.

“I’m sharing this document with you, by the way,” he said, taking another break from typing to finish off his iced coffee. He thought about when they’d met last semester. The first few couple of weeks of class, when they’d just started hanging out and were still getting used to one another, Suki had found out that one of her upperclassmen friends had taken Physics 1 already, and she sent Sokka all her friend’s study guides from that class. That was the first moment where Sokka realized what a kind person she was and how deeply he wanted to be friends with her.

“Thanks,” she said, looking up at him with a genuinely grateful smile. It made his heart skip a beat, but he ignored the feeling, chalking it up to the several ounces of caffeine pumping through his veins right now. He turned his attention back to his study guide.

In all honesty, Sokka didn’t care about Earth Kingdom history. He did care about keeping up his GPA, though. Sure, it technically didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things whether he got an A or a B, but it mattered to him. He was the first in his family to attend university, and even if he wouldn’t lose his scholarships from a slight dip on one of his tests, the thought of potentially blowing his chance to get a degree and make something of himself kept him up at night with anxiety. He was no stranger to college all-nighters, whether it be lying awake in bed desperately trying to turn his brain off, or nights like these, sat awake in a campus lounge trying to fill his brain with as much vocabulary as possible. This was his first all-nighter with Suki, though. They’d spent so much time together in the past few months, between getting lunch in the city and getting high in Ty Lee’s apartment, but staying up all night studying together was a new milestone.

Despite his lack of interest in the subject matter, he was so absorbed in making the study guide that he didn’t notice that Suki had gotten up and left the lounge until she returned, setting something down on the table next to Sokka. He glanced over—a water bottle from the vending machine a floor below. He looked up at her. “Thank you… so much,” he said, his voice raw with the emotion of an exhausted college student being offered the tiniest of kind gestures.

“You’re so dehydrated,” Suki said, laughing. “Drink.”

Sokka downed almost half the water bottle in one gulp. It woke him up even more than the caffeine had. The two of them continued with their own studying tactics, at one point switching gears so that Suki was going through Sokka’s study guide and adding in her own notes, and Sokka was reading over Suki’s highlights and annotations. They fell into a sort of symbiosis that was only ruptured by the realization that the sun was beginning to rise just outside the lounge windows.

Suki was the first to notice. “Oh my god,” she said. “What time is it?”

Sokka glanced at the top corner of his laptop screen. “5:15,” he groaned. “We have less than three hours before class starts.” He looked out the window woefully, then glanced back at Suki. “Should we try to take a power nap before class, or just stick it out?”

Suki opened her mouth to talk but cut herself off with a yawn. “Definitely power nap.” She started packing up her stuff, and Sokka followed suit. “I’m gonna head up to my room,” she said, as the lounge they were studying in was attached to her dorm. “See you soon.”

“Shit,” Sokka said, thinking out loud. He glanced at the time again on his phone and groaned as he saw it was nearing 5:20 now, thinking of his thirty-minute commute to campus. “I don’t think I’ll have time to go home, take a nap, and then come back to the Middle Ring.” He glanced forlornly at Suki and took his laptop back out of his bag, ready to get back to work. “I guess I’ll just sit down here and study some more. We can walk to class together when you wake up.”

He went to open his laptop, but before it could even start up, Suki reached out and shut it. He looked over at her, brows furrowed. “Don’t be stupid,” she said. “Come nap in my room.”

Sokka looked at her dumbfounded for a moment. Maybe it was just his tired brain being unable to process the offer, but he couldn’t believe Suki was inviting him for a sleepover. It wasn’t a traditional sleepover by any means, but it _was_ him sleeping over in her dorm room. Even after being friends for a whole semester and a half, they still hadn’t yet had a sleepover. This was two milestones in one night. It was so much it almost made Sokka want to tear up. He hadn’t had many close friends in high school, and he and Suki were particularly close—almost too close to just be friends, his family often implied, but he always nervously laughed off the accusations that he might have a crush on her.

“Well? Put your stuff away. We’re wasting valuable nap time.”

A renewed sense of energy kicked in as Sokka shoved all his things into his backpack and followed Suki up to her fourth-floor room. She had a single, which was nice because she didn’t have to worry about any roommate drama. As Sokka stood in her doorway drowsily, she dragged a comforter and some extra blankets from the top shelf of her closet and made a makeshift bed on the floor. “I’ll crash down here, you can take my bed,” she said, yawning as she slipped off her shoes and set them next to her backpack.

“No way,” Sokka said. “I’m not letting you sleep on the floor. I’ll only sleep in the bed if you’re there too.” He realized how that sounded a few seconds after it left his mouth, then stumbled to backtrack. “I mean, it’s your dorm. It would be rude—if I let you sleep on the floor. Unconscionable.”

Suki burst into laughter. “Unconscionable,” she repeated tiredly. They both stood there for a long moment, and then she finally said, “Fine, come on in,” as she lifted the blankets off the floor and threw them onto her twin-sized bed.

She had to make her bed before either of them could climb in, and in the meantime, Sokka stared at the posters that covered her walls. He’d been in here plenty of times before, but it still felt like there was more to see every time. Band posters, magazine clippings, postcards, a smattering of colors and shapes that all represented Suki’s personality, he supposed. Lots of guys in eyeliner and girls in sports bras. He blushed and forced himself to look away, to where Suki was lying in bed and staring at him quizzically.

“Get in, nerd,” she said, smirking. Still blushing, Sokka laughed as he climbed into bed next to her. It was warm and soft under the cover, and he felt blissful as his head sank into the soft pillows. With how small the bed was, it was almost impossible for them to not be squished up against one another, but he tried not to mind it. He wasn’t sure about bed-sharing etiquette though, and he could feel himself starting to overthink it. He’d shared a bed with his siblings plenty before, but it was different with Suki, somehow. Did he turn towards her, away from her? Should they stay up talking for a while or go right to sleep? Was he supposed to acknowledge her presence at all? Suki was lying on her back, but she shifted to face him and answered at least some of his questions by saying, “Can you scratch my back?”

“Oh, sure,” Sokka mumbled. This wasn’t an odd request. Suki and Ty Lee were giving each other massages and braiding each other’s hair all the time, and Sokka would occasionally jump in if he felt like it. Still, there was an unexpected warmth in him as Suki turned over and lifted the back of her shirt. Sokka chalked it up to the several layers of blankets as he turned on his side and began scratching her back with slow, gentle strokes.

“Thank you,” Suki said softly, her body relaxing. This was closer than Sokka had ever expected the two of them to get today, but he didn’t mind. They were good friends. He scratched her back until she drifted off to sleep, and then he pulled her shirt back down carefully and covered her up fully with the covers. He expected to fall asleep moments later but instead found himself lying awake replaying the events of the evening in his mind. As stressful as it had been to stay up studying all night, he was glad to have done it with Suki, and he was glad to be here now.

It was with these thoughts that he drifted off, cocooned in the warmth of Suki’s blankets and the bliss of friendship as the sun rose higher in the sky outside.

… 

**8 more months later**

“Why are we doing this again?”

Sokka slumped against the wall of the gym’s practice room, taking a long drink of water in between deep breaths. When he put the bottle down, he used his shirt to wipe his mouth and swipe away the sweat running down his brow. Suki simply stood and stared at him, hands on her hips and a crooked smile on her face. “You asked me to teach you,” she reminded him. “And I’m not letting you quit. I promised.” Sokka groaned, but he knew her promises were unbreakable, even if he secretly wanted her to break them.

“Give me like, five minutes to recover,” Sokka panted. He pulled out his phone to occupy himself during his recovery period, scrolling through a few texts from Aang and Katara in their family groupchat. Apparently, there was a conflict back at home about bagel consumption—Sokka hadn’t been home in almost four days, so he wouldn’t know anything about it. He still technically lived there, but since Suki had gotten an apartment for their sophomore year, he’d been crashing on her couch more frequently lately. It was much easier to roll out of bed in her living room and walk ten minutes to class instead of having to wake up an hour and a half early just to be ready in time to commute. Besides, sleepovers with Suki had quickly become one of his favorite pastimes since their first unofficial sleepover at her dorm back in freshman year.

“Come on, Sokka!” Suki called in her personal trainer voice—she’d recently landed a job at the school’s rec center, and she was obsessed. “Let’s go, get up! I wanna see you move!”

“Fine, fine,” Sokka sighed, setting his phone back down with the rest of his stuff and pulling himself to his feet with great effort. He’d been active in high school—he really had. He’d been on the soccer team! Most of his exercise since coming to college, however, had consisted of walking between classes, so he was definitely a little out of shape to be jumping right into learning martial arts with Suki, who was so good at her specific form that she’d gotten a scholarship for it. Most of his scholarships were either need-based or awarded for his unquantifiable genius— _not_ his athleticism.

The form of martial arts Suki was working up to teaching him was _tessenjutsu_ , a form that combined the principles of jujutsu with the use of metal fans. She’d explained this in detail and waxed poetic about how it had been passed down to her and her group of fighters by Avatar Kyoshi, and Sokka had thought it sounded cool, so he’d asked her to teach it to him. Of course, she’d laughed in his face—Sokka didn’t even know basic martial arts, how was he supposed to learn an advanced form like _tessenjutsu_? But she’d agreed to at least help him lay the groundwork, and now here they were sweating their asses off in a practice room they’d rented for the afternoon, Sokka feeling slightly closer to death each time Suki knocked him to the ground.

He jumped back into action, assuming what he thought was the proper stance before Suki leaned forward and adjusted how he was holding his arms. He wasn’t sure if it was the gentle physical contact or simply his sheer exhaustion that caused his heart rate to spike as she adjusted him, but he tried to regulate his breathing regardless. Once he was standing correctly, they began to spar again. It was no surprise to either of them when Sokka was flat on his back again in less than a minute. He stayed there for a moment, taking a deep breath before forcing himself to stand back up. The harder he tried, the quicker this would go, right?

As he resumed his starting stance again, Suki’s face broke into a small smile, and then she let out a giggle. Sokka relaxed his posture, furrowing his eyebrows. “What? Am I doing it wrong again?”

“No,” she said, finally laughing out loud. “I’m sorry. It’s just—when you fell that time, well, it kind of messed up your hair.”

Suddenly flushed with embarrassment, Sokka turned to look at himself in the mirror that covered the east wall, seeing how his ponytail was frizzy and lopsided. He’d been growing his hair out since first semester freshman year, and it was almost to his shoulders now. This was generally exciting, but it meant that it was a lot easier to have a bad hair day, which he despised. He quickly pulled his hair out of its ponytail and hurried to put it back up, this time in a bun, before Suki reached out to stop him.

“Do you want me to braid it?” she said. “It’ll stay better that way.” Smiling slightly, Sokka nodded. He hadn’t had his hair fully braided since he was very young. The two of them migrated to the side of the room and sat down, Suki on top of one of the practice mats and Sokka slightly below her on the linoleum floor. He passed his hair tie back to her as she began braiding, pulling strands of his hair tightly as she wove them together.

“This hurts a lot more than I remember,” Sokka complained, wincing as Suki yanked on another strand of his hair.

“You’d think your pain tolerance would be a little higher after getting thrown around all day,” Suki quipped back, continuing to pull at his hair until she’d finished a small, stubby braid that stopped at the base of Sokka’s neck. She took a picture on her phone to show him. “Looks good, right?”

“I guess,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll wear it outside the gym. But thank you.” He turned to look at her, smiling, and wrapped her in a grateful hug. She hugged him back briefly, then pulled away.

“You are _so_ sweaty,” she said, laughing despite the expression of disgust on her face.

“I know.” Sokka grinned and leapt back to his feet. “Let’s go. I’m ready.”

“Ready to get your ass kicked again?” Suki said, rising gracefully and walking back over to the center of the room.

This time, she didn’t need to correct Sokka as he found his starting stance, but Sokka could tell she was getting cocky. Her moves were a little more languid now, predictable, and he took advantage of it. In their sparring, he found an opening and moved to take her down. He ducked one of her hits and pushed back against her chest. Her eyes widened as she stumbled and fell back, hitting the mat with a soft thud. Sokka was just as shocked as Suki was, but once he realized what had happened, his face broke into a triumphant grin.

“I fell on purpose to make you feel better!” Suki said defensively, scrambling to her feet.

“I got you,” Sokka said, pointing a finger at her. “Admit I got you!”

Suki glared for a terrifying five seconds before her face split into a smile. “Okay, fine. It was a lucky shot!” she said. “You’re gonna have to try harder than that next time, though. Let’s break for lunch.”

“You fall once and now you want to take a break?” Sokka said, but he was already walking over to where his stuff sat by the wall. As Suki pulled on a sweater over her tank top and let down her hair, Sokka finished off his water. He slipped on his shoes and windbreaker and joined her by the door of the practice room. “I’m feeling noodles. You?”

“I’m feeling instant noodles at my apartment so we don’t have to go out and spend money. You?”

“Sounds perfect,” Sokka responded, grinning as he held the door open for them to leave. As they walked out of the gym into the crisp autumn air, Suki looped her arm through Sokka’s—she was only an inch taller than him, so they were basically at the perfect height to walk arm in arm, which she took advantage of frequently.

“Good game, Sokka,” she said, the breeze whipping her hair around gently. He smiled.

“Good game.”

… 

**7 months later**

Water sprayed up over the side of the boat and Sokka felt it splash on his outstretched hands. It was a gorgeous day to travel, the sky clear and the sun shining high, complete with a light breeze so that it wasn’t too hot. He normally spent his spring breaks working at home and occasionally hanging out with his friends who were still in town, but this year, Suki had invited him to join her as she traveled home for break. The idea of taking a ferry to Kyoshi Island had intimidated him at first—his memories of boats weren’t always the happiest or most nostalgic. As he stood near the hull, however, he tried to think about how his people were fishermen, and how he would surely have better memories associated with boats if he had fully grown up in the South Pole. This here was a good memory, and he tucked it away along with all his other adventures he’d had with Suki over the past two years.

“Come on,” he called to Suki. “Come do the Titanic thing with me! I’ll be Rose.”

“I’m not doing the Titanic thing with you,” Suki said. She had been glued to her phone the entire boat ride. She wouldn’t admit it, but he could tell she was nervous to be returning home, especially with a friend her family hadn’t met. He’d pried about her family a little bit in the past few months, especially since she knew so much about family back in Ba Sing Se. He hadn’t gotten a word in response.

Sokka stepped away from the side of the boat and sat down next to Suki. He thought about sneakily glancing at whatever she was looking at on her phone, but instead decided to pull out his own phone and text her, knowing that was probably the only thing that would get through to her right now.

_are u excited_

A few seconds later, Suki looked up at him with an irritated expression. He grinned at her until she cracked and started smiling as well. “Yes, I’m excited,” she said. “Sorry if I haven’t seemed like it. I’m kind of nervous about you meeting everyone.”

“Don’t be!” Sokka said, bumping her shoulder playfully with his own. “I mean, worst case scenario, they hate me, and I take the next ferry back, right?” He laughed nervously. “Your parents won’t hate me though, right?”

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” she said. “And, well, that’s the thing. It’s not really my parents. It’s… everyone.”

“I don’t follow.”

She looked down at her hands. “I don’t have a normal family like you, Sokka,” she said.

He laughed loudly, and a few other people on the ferry turned to stare at them. He ignored them as he responded, “If my family is your bar for normalcy, I can’t wait to see what your people are like.” He loved his family, of course, but an elderly grandma, two dads, a waterbender little sister, and two adopted siblings they basically picked up off the street weren’t exactly your average Earth Kingdom family.

“I guess,” Suki said, laughing slightly. “I just mean, the whole town is kind of my family. It’s not a mom, dad, brother, sister sort of thing. Everyone sort of raised me.”

Sokka nodded slightly. That was different than what he was used to, but it wasn’t bizarre in the slightest. “That’s cool. That’s kind of how it is in the Water Tribes—everyone takes care of everyone.” He smiled. “I can’t wait to meet all the cool people that raised my best friend.” Suki smiled back and bumped into him lightly. The boat began to slow as they approached the dock. Suki and Sokka stood up together and got their bags, ready to get off.

Kyoshi Island was an awe-inspiring place. The town was small, and as soon as they got off the boat, Suki started telling him about its history—about Avatar Kyoshi, about the unagi, about everything. He walked with her arm in arm, listening raptly as she gave him the tour of the village. At several points, people stopped them to talk and meet Sokka, and they were all incredibly welcoming. Suki’s mood had most definitely improved from when they were on the ship. “Let’s go through the center of town,” she said as they stepped away from a conversation with one of the vegetable vendors. “And then I’ll show you the dojo where I usually train the other Kyoshi Warriors.”

They headed for the town’s center when Suki stopped suddenly, her face dropping as she stared at something up ahead. Sokka followed her gaze and saw a towering wooden statue that stood at the center of the town. He could tell that it was supposed to be Avatar Kyoshi, but the paint was faded and peeling, and it was charred and burnt in some places. There were people on ladders cleaning and repainting it, but it seemed to be a slow effort. “Suki?” Sokka said, but she had broken away from him and was running towards the workers. Sokka jogged to catch up.

“What happened?” Suki said to the man on the lowest ladder. Her brow was furrowed and her arms crossed. Sokka wasn’t sure that he’d ever seen her this upset over anything more serious than a group project. The man took a step down the ladder and turned to greet them.

“Good to have you back, Suki,” he said somewhat solemnly. “A few days ago, the Fire Nation came through here—they said they were looking for Air Nomad refugees.” His expression grew a bit more somber. “We told them we didn’t have any. They did a little damage, burnt the statue, but they left pretty soon once they realized we wouldn’t help them.”

“Was anyone hurt?” Suki said. The man shook his head, and she sighed in relief.

“We’ve been repairing the last couple of days,” he said, gesturing to the statue.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here,” Suki said, hanging her head slightly. “Let me know if you need any help.”

“You just relax on your break. And who’s this here?” The man gestured to Sokka.

Suki glanced up and smiled slightly, but Sokka could tell it was forced. “This is Sokka. My friend from school. He’s from the Southern Water Tribe, but his family lives in Ba Sing Se.”

“Pleased to meet you, Sokka. We here in Kyoshi Island used to trade with the Southern Water Tribe. You’re good people.”

“Thank you,” Sokka said. He hadn’t been to the South Pole since he was around ten, but he was proud of the compliment nonetheless. Suki waved goodbye to the man and took Sokka’s hand, leading him away from the statue and back towards the vendors. She searched around in her pocket for a moment and then pulled out a couple coins, placing them in Sokka’s hand.

“Would you mind getting us something to make for dinner?” she said. “Get to know some of the other vendors too. I’m sure they can tell you some embarrassing stories about me as a kid.”

“Sure,” Sokka said. “But aren’t you coming with me?”

Suki shook her head. “I need to go do something. I’ll find you later though. Just meet me where we’re staying at my sister’s house.” Sokka wanted to protest, to beg her to stay with him, but he knew after the conversation they’d just had that she probably needed some time alone, so he simply waved goodbye and did as she said. By the end of an hour, he was on a first-name basis with nearly all the vendors and had bought enough produce for a whole feast. Maybe he could even start cooking and have it ready by the time Suki came back home.

He followed the directions she’d texted him until he reached a tiny house on the outskirts of the village with smoke rising from the chimney. He knocked carefully on the door with his foot and stood back, his arms full with the bags of food he’d bought. A few seconds later, a woman a few years older than him answered the door, her face half-smudged with heavy white makeup and her hair in a messy bun. She took a few moments to process the sight of a random twenty-year-old standing on her doorstep with bags of produce before she jumped and said, “Sokka! That’s right! Come in.” She stepped aside briskly and Sokka walked in past her. She shut the door and ushered him to the kitchen, directing him to set everything on a spot of empty counter.

Everything in the house was small and a little cluttered, but it made Sokka feel right at home. He turned to the woman, who he was 90% sure was named Dahla. “You must be Suki’s… sister?” he said, his hesitance obvious.

“Generally, yes,” she said. “You must be her weirdo friend from college who got an above perfect score in the university’s hardest calculus class.”

Sokka felt his face reddening. “She told you that?” Why would Suki tell someone that? It wasn’t embarrassing, just a weird, inconsequential thing to tell someone. Unless, maybe, she was proud of him—

“Help yourself to some tea,” Dahla said, pointing towards the kettle on the stove. “I’m going to go finish… this.” She gestured to the half-smeared makeup on her face. Sokka nodded as she turned and headed down the hallway, disappearing into one of the rooms. He stood awkwardly in the kitchen for a moment before he took her up on the offer to help himself to some tea. He was generally a coffee drinker, but Suki had gotten him into tea lately. He sat at the dining room table, scrolling through his phone as he took a careful sip.

 _i got food and made it to your place_ , he texted Suki. _are you okay?_

As he waited for a response, Sokka scrolled through his other texts. His sibling groupchat had over forty notifications, and he skimmed over some of the messages he had missed.

 **aang** : _sokka pleeeeeeease tell me your gonna ride the unagi  
_**katara** : _You’re*  
_**toph** : _shut up katara  
_**katara** : _No  
_**katara** _: There’s no way Sokka’s going to ride the unagi.  
_**toph** : _i’ll bet you twenty bucks he will  
_**katara** : _You don’t have any money.  
_**aang** : _sokka if your reading this i love you  
_**katara** : _Are you just using the wrong “your” on purpose at this point?  
_**aang** : _why would i do that? i respect you’re grammar rules katara_

Sokka chuckled as he exited the thread and opened up his texts with his father. Hakoda had messaged him about fifteen minutes ago, _Make it to the island alright?_ He typed a quick response.

 _yep. it’s beautiful here! i’ll send pics tomorrow_.

Almost thirty minutes had passed when Dahla returned to the kitchen, fresh-faced with a towel wrapped around her hair. She looked much prettier after having wiped off the remnants of the old makeup, her striking brown eyes boring into Sokka as she sat down across from him at the table. He noticed a mole just above her lip as she unraveled the towel on her head and let the damp waves of black hair spill over her shoulders. Why were all the Kyoshi Island girls so beautiful?

Suki still hadn’t responded to his text, but he pushed that thought out of his mind as he grinned at Dahla. “Any ideas for what we should do for dinner? Maybe we can have it ready by the time Suki gets home.”

“Yeah, about that,” Dahla said, grimacing slightly. “She saw the statue, didn’t she?” Sokka nodded solemnly. “I think I know where she is, then. If I gave you directions, would you go looking for her? Sometimes it’s best to just let her wander, but she could probably use some company tonight. I can start cooking while you’re gone.”

“Oh. Okay,” Sokka said. He stood up awkwardly, unsure whether to feel flattered that he was trusted with the task of keeping Suki company or offended that Dahla didn’t want him around while she was cooking. He got the location from her, but she didn’t quite explain what it was or what it looked like before she sent Sokka off. He found himself a bit lost as he wandered into a more rural area of the island, passing by fields of crops and small houses as the sun began to dip lower in the sky. Eventually, he swallowed his pride and asked a passing farmer to help him find the place he was looking for. He eventually stumbled upon it—an empty barn with a thatched roof and a creaky porch.

Sokka heard movement from inside the barn, and though he knew it must be Suki, he was hesitant to enter. He tried to place the sound—heavy footfalls, empty swishes of air, the occasional soft grunt of concentration—she was training, practicing her forms. Sokka felt his stomach drop—he knew Suki tended to throw herself into her work when she got anxious, but it had never been something he’d felt the need to address until now.

Finally, he worked up the courage to step up to the barn’s wide entrance. Sure enough, she was rounding out a solid kick to the air when she saw Sokka, the sight catching her by surprise and throwing her off balance. Sokka leapt forward and caught her before she could tumble to the ground. She looked up at him for a moment, her face flushed, but as soon as she regained her balance, she pushed him away a bit too forcefully. Sokka felt his heart sink, and he wondered if he should just leave her alone. He waited for her to do something, to yell at him or continue practicing, but instead she just crumpled to the floor and buried her face in her hands.

Still silent, Sokka sat down next to her without hesitation, wrapping an arm around her carefully. He felt her begin to shake with tears, and he realized suddenly that he’d never seen Suki cry before—not in a real way, at least. Sure, she’d shed a few tears when they watched _The Wind Rises_ together, but he’d never seen her be truly emotionally vulnerable. He took a deep breath, ignoring the novelty of the situation as he started to stroke her hair gently. He may not have seen Suki cry before, but he was no stranger to comforting sad people. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d held Katara like this after she’d woken up from a nightmare about their mother.

Sokka pushed those thoughts away as Suki sat up, pulling away from him and wiping her face. Her red eyeliner was running in streaks down her cheeks, and Sokka couldn’t help smiling slightly as he reached out and helped her wipe it off. “Sorry,” she said finally, her voice still a bit choked. “I just—I didn’t realize the war had come here. I was so afraid something like this would happen while I was away at college and I wouldn’t be here to protect them. And it did. I just feel selfish. Selfish and overwhelmed.” She heaved a sigh and leaned into Sokka again.

“You’re not selfish,” he said quietly. “They’re all okay. You shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of protecting everyone—I doubt they would have let you go if they thought you did.” Suki laughed slightly, and Sokka squeezed her a little closer. They sat in silence for a moment, and then Sokka continued, “Did I ever tell you about how my family came to Ba Sing Se?” He knew he hadn’t, but he couldn’t think of another way to broach the topic.

“No, I don’t think so.”

Sokka nodded, sitting up a little straighter, unsure how prepared he was to really talk about this. He felt like it might help Suki, though, so he kept talking. “Well, as you know, we lived in the South Pole until I was around ten. Me, Katara, dad, and Gran Gran—”

“Not Aang and Toph?”

Sokka smiled and shook his head. “No, they weren’t around yet. It was just us four—and my mom.” He looked away, focusing on a dusty beam that supported the barn’s roof. “Her name was Kya. She was—well, I remember her being amazing. To be honest, I feel like the few memories I have of her are slipping away more every year. She was killed by the Fire Nation. They invaded us a lot back at the beginning of the war, but we thought we were safe when they came that time. I guess losing her made us all realize how vulnerable we actually were. My dad decided we needed to leave and go somewhere safer, and what place was safer than Ba Sing Se?”

Suki nodded, and Sokka felt her arm around him now. He hadn’t even realized she’d done that—how long had her hand been there, resting against his side, fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt gently? He brushed the thought away.

“So, we went to Ba Sing Se. We met Aang on the way—he was a refugee too, and him and Katara became best friends like right away, so we basically adopted him. Toph’s story is more complicated.” Sokka smiled and Suki laughed.

“Of course it is.”

“But anyway, that’s how we came to Ba Sing Se. We’ve been living in that tiny apartment for the past nine or ten years now. It was even harder at first, because dad was making regular trips back to the Water Tribe—Bato was the chief then, and he was still there, so dad felt an obligation to go back every few months to help them stay safe and bring back any other refugees. So we were pretty alone those first few years.”

“I’m sorry, Sokka,” Suki said softly, wrapping both arms around him now and hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, and for a brief moment, he felt okay. They held on for a while, and when they pulled away, Suki continued, “Thank you for telling me that. I guess we’ve all lost something to the war.”

Sokka nods. “I guess I’m just grateful we aren’t on the frontlines fighting it. Though it does make me feel guilty—so I understand what you mean when you say you feel selfish. I don’t think you’re selfish, though. I don’t think I am, either. Actually, I think we’re fighting in our own ways. Two scrappy Earth Kingdom kids staying alive and staying strong and getting educated—the Fire Nation would probably hate that, huh?”

Suki laughed again, and Sokka could have sworn that her smile could light up the room. “Yeah, they probably would,” she said. “Let’s promise we’re gonna do more from here on out, though, okay? Go to a protest, organize some kind of campaign at school—let’s do more than just stay alive.”

Sokka nodded. “Promise,” he said, offering his pinky. Suki grinned and interlocked her pinky finger with his. They sealed it with another hug. On their trip back to the house together where Dahla was waiting with dinner, the sun was setting over the horizon, painting everything pink and orange as they walked hand in hand together.

…

**9 months later**

**sokka** : _so i might be having a crisis  
_**katara** : _Can’t Suki help you?  
_**sokka** : _no it’s about suki  
_**aang** : _OMG_

Sighing, Sokka locked his phone and set it on the other end of the couch, laying back and staring at the ceiling. He’d only been in this apartment once or twice before, but it was gorgeous—newly-painted walls, colorful homoerotic art, string lights giving a soft glow to the whole living room. Even the plush red couch was quaint and comfortable. “I love lesbians’ apartments,” he said absentmindedly as Ty Lee returned and set two cups of tea on the peach-shaped coasters. Sokka sat up and thanked her, inevitably drinking the tea too quickly and burning his tongue.

“Thanks,” she said as she sat down on the chair across from him. She was wearing an oversized red pullover, most likely belonging to Mai, and her long hair hung in a messy braid over one of her shoulders. “I like lesbians’ apartments too.” 

She smiled softly, and Sokka felt chilled out and anxious all at once. He loved Ty Lee; he could trust her. She knew Suki, and not only that, but she was also the only person Sokka knew who had successfully asked out one of her best friends and was now in a fulfilling, happy relationship—except for also his dad maybe, but ew. 

“So, what did you need?” Ty Lee said, picking up her mug and sipping carefully. “Suki said you were struggling with a sociology assignment?”

“Yeah, that was a lie,” Sokka said quickly. “I mean, I’m not _not_ struggling with a sociology assignment.” He laughed nervously. “I’m just… that’s not the reason I came here. I kind of wanted to ask your advice on something else—but promise you won’t tell anyone. Not even Mai.”

“Of course,” Ty Lee said, sitting up a little straighter and grinning. She set down her mug of tea and rolled up the sleeves of her sweatshirt. “You have full confidentiality from me!” Sokka nodded, slightly reassured, but he still didn’t know where to start. He looked down at the tea for a long moment, fidgeting slightly, and Ty Lee interrupted the awkward silence by saying, “This is about Suki, right?”

“What?”

She smiled jokingly, like Sokka was playing a prank on her. “You like her, right?”

Instinctively, Sokka began to deny it. “Why does everyone think—?” He cut himself off, realizing that for once, someone assuming he and Suki were into one another was actually spot on. Well, he didn’t know if they were into _each other_. He doubted she was into him. What did it even mean to be ‘into someone’?

“Stop freaking out,” Ty Lee said gently. It unnerved him how she seemed to be slightly psychic. She shifted in her seat, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees as she gazed into his eyes comfortingly. “It’s okay you have feelings for her. You guys have been basically attached at the hip since freshman year. That’s like, almost three years at this point. It would be weird if you didn’t have a crush on her.” Sokka furrowed his brows slightly. “Kidding. But seriously—I’m pretty sure everyone has been rooting for you two to get together besides you two. And maybe Zuko.”

“What? Why not Zuko?”

“Unimportant.” Ty Lee kept smiling. She sipped her tea again sagely. “Basically, what I’m saying is—go for it. I can’t say with one hundred percent certainty if she’ll feel the same way.” Sokka might have just been sleep-deprived, but it almost looked like Ty Lee winked slightly as she said that last bit. “But it doesn’t hurt to try.” Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but Ty Lee kept talking. “It won’t ruin your friendship. Your bond is stronger than that. Trust me.”

Taking a deep breath, Sokka nodded. He still found it odd how Ty Lee almost seemed to predict everything he was going to say, but he trusted her. She was one of Suki’s closest friends, and she and Mai had been dating for almost a year now. “Okay,” he said finally, taking another long sip of tea. “But… how do I do it?”

“Don’t make it a big thing,” she said, leaning back. “Just wait until it feels like a good time. I told Mai—”

“Yeah, I know, while you were lying beneath the stars in a field outside Ba Sing Se and holding hands and all that.”

Ty Lee grinned, and Sokka couldn’t help but smile back. He’d heard the story a million times, but it didn’t get old. He only hoped he could find such an idyllic, romantic setting to confess his love for Suki.

…

**6 months later**

He couldn’t.

Well, at least, not in the past six months. It had been a tumultuous junior year—he’d failed his first test ever, and Suki had been returning to Kyoshi Island more frequently. They’d both been stressed and high-strung and exhausted, and they hardly got any free time together. That was why Sokka had suggested the road trip—well, that, and to try and make his own “Mai and Ty Lee under the stars” moment.

Thankfully, Suki had run with the idea. While Sokka was swamped with exams and final projects, Suki planned out a path for them to take around the Earth Kingdom, found the cheapest motels for them to stop at, and began saving up money for food and gas. Once Sokka was finally free of school, he threw himself into the planning too and made sure that they could borrow Bato’s car for the two weeks that they were planning to be gone.

Finally, the day of their departure came. Hakoda helped Sokka and Suki load their bags into the back of the car. Suki got into the driver’s seat, ready to go, but Hakoda took Sokka aside for a moment before he could get in.

“Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Of course, Dad,” Sokka said, fidgeting slightly. Hakoda reached out and rested a hand on Sokka’s shoulder, taking on a more serious expression.

“Hey. You’re gonna do great.”

Sokka’s face flushed. He’d opened up to Hakoda about his feelings for Suki and his plans to confess, and he’d regretted it ever since. “Sure,” he said. “I gotta go. Loveyoubye.” He gave Hakoda a quick kiss on the cheek and made a break for the car, sliding into the passenger seat and buckling himself in. “Ready?”

Suki responded by starting up the car. “What was that all about?” she said, gesturing back at Hakoda. Sokka looked through the rearview mirror at his dad, who was still standing there with his hands on his hips as he watched them pull away.

“Just regular dad stuff,” Sokka said, trying to sound normal, something that had become unexpectedly difficult in the past few months. “Stay safe, call me if you need something, blah blah.”

“That’s sweet,” Suki said, grinning and reaching her hand out the window to wave at Hakoda as they left. He waved back, and Sokka watched in the mirror as he grew smaller and smaller and finally disappeared when they rounded a corner. Sokka already had the map and travel itinerary pulled up on his phone, and though their first stop wasn’t for a while, he wanted to be ready to give Suki directions when she needed them. Their first major destination was Wan Shi Tong’s Library, as chosen by Sokka, but that was pretty far away. They had plenty of small towns to stop in and explore before then.

Sokka hadn’t been on many long trips, not since moving from the South Pole to Ba Sing Se as a child, but he was expecting to be bored within the first couple hours. Somehow, he never fell into that lull; Suki was amazing to travel with. They took turns picking songs to play, though after three years of friendship, their taste in music had merged significantly. They talked for hours until both of them were tired of speaking, but even their silences weren’t dull. Suki was no stranger to long trips, so she had plenty of road games for them to play, like trying to find the alphabet on billboards or making acronyms out of license plates. By the time they reached their first stop, Sokka was shocked that almost ten hours had passed.

The entire trip continued with the same rapidity—they passed from town to town, meeting new people, going to festivals, hitting up fairs and amusement parks and museums. The library was breathtaking, and they spent almost an entire day there, but then it was onto the next village. Sokka realized when they were leaving Omashu and heading back towards Ba Sing Se that he had less than a week left to tell Suki how he felt. There had been plenty of picture-perfect moments for him to confess, but his anxiety always got the better of him.

More days passed as they drove and stopped, sleeping in the back of the car or staying with kind strangers in the places they passed through. By the time they reached Full Moon Bay to take the ferry that would bring them within half an hour of Ba Sing Se’s outer wall, Sokka realized his time was dwindling.

The ferry didn’t run at night, and they arrived around 2AM, so they parked in an empty field nearby and slept in the back of the car. Sokka was glad they were able to take Bato’s car rather than having to borrow Hakoda’s or Ty Lee’s—a few years ago, Bato had gone full “dad” and bought a minivan. With the back seats folded down, Suki and Sokka were able to lay out blankets and pillows and make a pretty comfortable bed back there. Sometimes, if the evening wasn’t too cold and they weren’t parked anywhere sketchy, Suki would pop open the back door so that they could look up at the stars as they fell asleep. That night, she opened it up and then laid down next to Sokka, pulling the blankets up to her chin.

“This is our last night,” she said softly, yawning and glancing over at Sokka. He smiled.

“I know. I can’t believe it went so quickly.” He looked out at the stars, suddenly realizing that this had to be his moment. They were literally lying under the stars outside Ba Sing Se, curled up next to one another. His heart pounded in his chest as he ran through the script in his head again, hoping he sounded natural, hoping Suki wouldn’t reject him and force him to sleep on the ground outside. When he finally worked up some semblance of courage, he swallowed and softly said, “Suki?”

She didn’t respond, and his anxiety spiked. Did she realize what he was about to say? He tentatively looked over at her, afraid of what expression might have been on her face, and he saw that her eyes were closed, and her mouth was open, her breathing heavy and even. He waved his hand in front of her face. Was she already asleep?

To be fair, she had driven for almost twelve hours straight that day. Still, Sokka couldn’t help but feel like his moment had been stolen. He felt a mixture of frustration and relief as he looked back at the stars, identifying constellations in his head and running through the script again until he drifted off.

Sokka woke up early the next morning, but Suki had woken up earlier. When he opened his eyes and saw the empty space next to him, he first glanced back at the driver’s seat to see if Suki was already gearing up to leave, but she wasn’t there either. He looked the other direction and found that she was sitting at the end of the backseat, her legs hanging down over the edge of the car. Sokka quietly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and scooted up to sit next to her.

As he sat up fully, he noticed the sun rising over the horizon. He’d seen plenty of sunsets and sunrises on this trip, but he was a bit overwhelmed by the beauty of this one, painting the rocky landscape a hazy pink and orange. He glanced over at Suki and was stunned into silence by the way the light played across her face, illuminating her dark eyes and making her black hair shine. She looked over at him.

“Look who’s finally up,” she said, smiling crookedly. He wanted to make a jab back, to joke around or defend himself, but he couldn’t find the words.

“Suki,” he said quickly. “I love you. Like, really love you. Not just as a friend. Like I would marry you someday. I would marry you today.” This wasn’t the script. These were just words, random thoughts and phrases tumbling from his mouth before he could stop them, and he felt his face growing hot, but he kept going. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship, I love being friends with you, but I just realized that I really, really love you. Like—”

Before he could continue making a fool of himself, Suki cut him off by rushing forward and pressing a kiss to his lips. Sokka stood still for a moment, unsure exactly what was happening, but he quickly snapped out of it and relaxed, leaning into Suki and reaching up to rest an arm on her waist.

The kiss didn’t last long—they both had morning breath, and Sokka could tell by the way Suki wrinkled her nose as she pulled away that she’d noticed it too. They both giggled slightly at this, which gave way to a full-on fit of laughter. Sokka leaned into Suki as he laughed, wrapping his arms around her, and she hugged him back, burying her face in his hair as she shook with laughter. Sokka wasn’t sure how long they sat there laughing, holding each other with tears leaking from their eyes and their faces aching—this was the one thing that didn’t rush by, the one moment that seemed to last forever.

Eventually, though, they both managed to calm down and pull away to look at one another. Suki was swiping tears from her eyes. “I love you too,” she said finally. “I really, really love you. I mean, I probably wouldn’t marry you _today_ , but—”

“Stop,” Sokka groaned. Suki started laughing again.

“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t marry you at all!” she said, giggling and shoving his shoulder playfully. “But I mean… yeah. I love you. As more than a friend. I’m surprised it took either of us this long to say it.”

“I know,” Sokka sighed. “I just… didn’t want to lose you, I guess.”

“You could never lose me,” Suki said, “even if you wanted to.” She pulled Sokka into another hug, tight enough to crush him, and he just hugged her back harder, both of them dissolving into laughter again as the sun rose higher above them, illuminating everything in gold and white.

**_end  
_ **

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from ezra furman's [driving down to L.A.](https://open.spotify.com/track/35mezbgguiy1hodheoupPI?si=Xeuia_bOQlSPDEJf1KIssQ)


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